Thursday, October 6, 2011

Working From The RV – WiFi Blues

I have yet to have a problem getting onto the Internet using my Verizon MiFi until we went to the Blackhawk campground in Rockford. They are in a little valley that seems to be a cellular black hole and their WiFi is mounted low on their building so if you’re next to a large rig, forget getting a signal. First time in 7 years I couldn’t log on and it will be the last.

I spoke to the owner and he mentioned moving the antenna so I gave him some ideas of what could work but will he do them, I can’t assume he will so I’ll make sure I can get on no matter what. He has it line of site pointing straight at the line of lots which normally would be fine however, there is a big tree also in this line as well as a park model in the first lot and a big Class A in the 2nd making it near impossible to get signal without either standing in the road or on top of the RV.

I found a product from C. Crane called the “Super USB WiFi Antenna 3” and also a 30ft extension cable which will plug directly into my MacBook Pro giving me full signal from most any point in their park or any park where a signal is difficult to attain. I should have it soon and will do plenty of testing, I’ll post about it after I’m done testing it, but if reviews are any indication, this thing will rock.

          super-usb-wifi-antenna-3-new 30-foot-usb-split-cable

7 comments:

Merikay said...

Must have good internet!

Sue and Doug said...

good luck with the internet connection!..hope it works well!!

JoJo said...

I know someone who has it and sweats by it. Hope it works for you too.
Seems Billy Bob is not having any luck with his verizon since his move yet OFM isn't having any problem in the same place. Who knows It all over my head.

Kevin Read said...

Looking forward to reading about how it works out. We use the Hawking Antenna Booster and have be very happy with that.

Kevin and Ruth
www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

TexCyn said...

I'll be interested in seeing how the antenna works for you. Good luck & glad you made it out for a camping trip. I hope the father in law is doing well.

Alan and Marilyn McMillan said...

Will be interested to see/hear how well the antenna works

Big Matt said...

I've been using a similar methodology for some time now, it was a custom made 33" external Yagi wifi antenna that plugged in via USB (Has its own built in 54g card).

So long as I know where the antenna is, I can point at it and get good signal.